Alexandra Lowe Riley (born 30 October 1987) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a defender for Angel City of the American

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...

(NWSL). Born in the United States, she represents the New Zealand national team. She captains both her club and national teams. As a collegiate athlete, she captained the

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

soccer team to two NCAA semi-finals and one final.

Early life

Born in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

to parents John Graham Riley and Beverly Fong Lowe, Riley attended St. Matthew's Parish School in Pacific Palisades and

Harvard-Westlake School Harvard-Westlake School is an independent, co-educational university preparatory day school in Los Angeles, California, with about 1,600 students in grades seven through twelve. The school has two campuses: the middle school campus in Holmby ...

North Hollywood, California North Hollywood is a neighborhood and district in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, El Portal Theater, several art galleries, and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Th ...

. She was named captain of the soccer team during her senior season and was a two-time Mission League Offensive MVP as well as a two-time first-team San Fernando Valley selection. As a senior, she helped lead the Wolverines to the 2006 Southern Section Division I final and was named to the All-CIF Southern Section Division I first team. Riley also competed for local soccer clubs LA Breakers FC (formerly Westside Breakers) and Real SoCal (formerly SoCal United).

Stanford University

Riley attended

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

and played for the

Stanford Cardinal The Stanford Cardinal are the college athletics in the United States, athletic teams that represent Stanford University. Stanford's program has won 138 National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA team championships, the List of NCAA schools ...

from 2006 to 2009. During her freshman year, she started in fifteen of the eighteen matches she played. She played forward and scored four goals with two assists. As a sophomore, she played sixteen games and started in fourteen of them. She scored two goals and had two assists. During her junior year, Riley converted from her position at forward to an outside back and she has played almost exclusively at left or right full-back ever since, As a senior, Riley started in each of the twenty-four games and scored one goal with one assist.

Club career

FC Gold Pride

In January 2010, Riley was selected as the tenth pick in the first round of the

2010 WPS Draft The 2010 WPS College Draft took place on January 15, 2010. It was the second college draft held by Women's Professional Soccer to assign the WPS rights of college players to the American-based teams. Format FC Gold Pride FC Gold Pride was an American professional women's soccer club based in the San Francisco Bay Area, which participated in Women's Professional Soccer (WPS). The club replaced the San Jose CyberRays of the defunct Women's United Soccer Associati ...

. While she played on her natural right wing-back position for the NZ Women's National Team, she played professionally as a left wing-back and had three assists in the 2010 run to the WPS championship by

FC Gold Pride FC Gold Pride was an American professional women's soccer club based in the San Francisco Bay Area, which participated in Women's Professional Soccer (WPS). The club replaced the San Jose CyberRays of the defunct Women's United Soccer Associati ...

. Riley won the WPS Rookie of the Year award.

Western New York Flash

Riley signed for

Western New York Flash The Western New York Flash (WNY Flash) was an American women's soccer club based in Elma, New York, that most recently competed in the United Women's Soccer league in 2018. They won league championships in four different leagues: the USL W-Leag ...

for the 2011 season, becoming a free agent after FC Gold Pride failed to find financial backers. In the 2011 season Riley was a finalist for Defender of the year as the Flash swept both the league season title and then won the 2011 WPS Championship. In 2012, Riley re-signed with

for the 2012 season, however, the league folded before play began.

LdB FC Malmö/FC Rosengård

With the suspension of the WPS, she signed in 2012 with LdB FC Malmö, the 2011

Damallsvenskan The (; ), known as OBOS for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of women's football in Sweden. It is one of the best women's leagues in the world, and was founded in 1988. The division consists of a league of 14 teams. From 2013, t ...

champions. In her first game (the Supercupen), she assisted on the winning goal. She played her first full season in the

in 2013. With LdB FC Malmö she finished top of the table. In September 2013 Riley re-signed with LdB FC Malmö (since December 2013 renamed FC Rosengård) for the 2014 and 2015 seasons.

FC Rosengård FC Rosengård (), known as Malmö FF Dam () until 2007 and later LdB FC Malmö until 2013, is a professional football club based in Malmö, Scania, Sweden. The team was established as Malmö FF Dam in 1970. It started out with playing 7 seasons ...

again won gold in the

in 2014. In March 2015 she played both at full-back and forward in her second Supercupen victory with Rosengård. In September 2015 she re-signed with Rosengård. The team went on to win the Damallsvenskan for the third straight year, earning Riley her fifth league championship in her eight-year career.

Chelsea

On 26 June 2018, it was announced that Riley would be leaving Rosengård in July to join Chelsea in the English

FA Women's Super League The Women's Super League (WSL), also known as the Barclays Women's Super League for sponsorship reasons, and formerly the FA WSL, is a professional association football league and the highest level of women's football in England. Currently oper ...

Bayern Munich

On 18 July 2019, Riley moved to

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

of the

Frauen-Bundesliga The Frauen-Bundesliga (German language, German for ''Women's Federal League''), currently known as the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of league competition for women's association football in Germany. I ...

Orlando Pride

On 10 February 2020, Ali Riley returned to the US and signed a one-year contract with an option for an additional year for the

Orlando Pride The Orlando Pride are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Orlando, Florida, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The Pride began play in the 2016 National Women's Soccer League season, 2016 ...

. The season was postponed due to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

with the NWSL eventually scheduling a smaller schedule

2020 NWSL Challenge Cup The 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup was a tournament during the 2020 National Women's Soccer League season to mark the league's return to action from the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the first professional team sports event to return to play in United States ...

tournament. However, on 22 June 2020, the team withdrew from the tournament following positive COVID-19 tests among both players and staff.

Loan to FC Rosengård

On 13 July 2020, having been unable to feature for the Pride, Riley returned to Sweden to be with her partner during the pandemic and rejoined

Rosengård Rosengård (literally "Rose Manor") was a city district () in the center of Malmö Municipality, Sweden. On 1 July 2013, it was merged with Husie, forming Öster. In 2012, Rosengård had a population of 23,563 of the municipality's 307,758. It ...

on loan.

Angel City FC, 2022–

On 27 January 2022, Riley was traded to

Angel City FC Angel City Football Club is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Los Angeles, California, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The formation of the team was announced on July 21, 2020; it beg ...

in exchange for $15,000 in allocation money and a third-round pick in the

2023 NWSL Draft The 2023 NWSL Draft presented by Ally was the eleventh annual meeting of National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchises to select amateur players above the age of 18 playing in the United States who exhausted, lost, or renounced any remaining ...

. As a result of the trade, she was able to play in her hometown for the first time in her career. During the club's inaugural season, Riley was a starting defender in 19 of the 20 games she played and recorded 1,591 minutes on the pitch. The club finished their first season in eighth place with a record. During the 2023 season, Riley started 15 of the 19 games she played. She scored her first goal for the club during a 2–2 draw against

Chicago Red Stars Chicago Stars Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in the Chicago metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). A founding member of the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league as the Chic ...

on 17 September. Angel City finished in fifth place during the regular season and advanced to the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

for the first time where they were eliminated by

OL Reign Seattle Reign FC is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Seattle, Washington, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Founded in 2012, it is one of eight inaugural members of the NWSL. Since J ...

in the quarter final match. Angel City announced on 22 August 2024 that Riley would be placed on the Season-Ending Injury (SEI) list due to a chronic and persistent leg injury that had kept her out for the majority of the 2024 season and forced her to miss the

2024 Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

International career

Being US-born to a New Zealand father, Riley represented New Zealand at the 2006 Women's U-20 World Cup finals. She made her

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

debut in a 5–0 loss to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

on 6 February 2007, and represented New Zealand at the

2007 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup, the fifth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, was an international football competition for women held in China from 10 to 30 September 2007. Originally, China was to host the 2003 edition, but the outbreak o ...

in China, where they lost 5–0 to

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, 2–0 to

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

and 2–0 to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. Riley also played every minute for the New Zealand squad in the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

where they drew with

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

(2–2) before losing to

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

(1–0) and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

(4–0). Riley's first international goal was scored in the final of the OFC Women's Nations Cup as New Zealand qualified for the

2011 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was the sixth FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the world championship for List of women's national association football teams, women's national association football, football teams. It was held from 26 June to ...

with an 11–0 win over

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

. On 27 June 2011, Riley earned her 50th A-international cap in a 2–1 loss to

in New Zealand's opening group stage match at the

. In the final seconds of extra time in the match v. Mexico she assisted on the tying goal that gave the Football Ferns their first point in a World Cup group stage. In the

2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

Riley played every minute of the Football Ferns' four games. In the preliminary round games the Ferns lost 1–0 to Great Britain and Brazil and beat Cameroon 3–1. This was the first victory by a NZ football team in the Olympics. With the victory the Ferns advanced to the second round based on goal differential. In the quarter-final the Ferns played the USA losing 2–0. In 2013 Riley started for New Zealand in a series of games establishing the Football Ferns as a growing force in international competition. The Ferns won the Vallais Cup beating #4 Brazil 1–0 and #16 China 4–0 and also had ties playing #10 Australia, #3 Japan and #1 USA. She featured in all New Zealand's three matches at the

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international soccer championship contested by the women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada for the f ...

in Canada. In the

2016 Rio Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

Riley played every minute of the Football Ferns' three games. The Ferns lost 2–0 to

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

, 3–0 to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and beat

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

1–0. Riley has been the captain of the Football Ferns since the 2017 Cyprus Cup. In April 2019, Riley was named to the final 23-player squad for the

2019 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup was the eighth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international Women's association football, football championship contested by 24 List of women's national association football teams, women's ...

. On 20 July 2023, Riley captained New Zealand in the country's first World Cup victory ever. In the opening game of the

2023 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup was the ninth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international women's association football, football championship contested by List of women's national association football teams, women's nat ...

, New Zealand beat Norway 1–0. On July 4, 2024, Riley was initially named to the New Zealand 18-player squad for the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

in Paris but had to withdraw on July 24, 2024, just days before the start of the competition due to injury.

Other work

Media

In 2021 Riley started hosting an ''Off the Ball'' show for sports website ''

Just Women's Sports ''Just Women's Sports'' (''JWS'') is an American news website and media company focused on women's sports. It was founded in 2020 by former soccer player Haley Rosen. The company creates content across social, web, and audio platforms, and has ...

''.

Books

In 2023, Riley released a cookbook featuring plant-based recipes titled ''Girls Gone Veg'' with her former Orlando Pride teammate Toni Pressley.

Personal life

Riley is of

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

descent. Her father John Riley is a native

New Zealander New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

and her mother Bev Lowe is

Chinese-American Chinese Americans are Americans of Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans have ancestors from mainland China, Hong Kong ...

. They first met when both worked with the

RAND Corporation The RAND Corporation, doing business as RAND, is an American nonprofit global policy think tank, research institute, and public sector consulting firm. RAND engages in research and development (R&D) in several fields and industries. Since the ...

. Riley eats a mostly plant based diet. She is a self-identified flexitarian (Or semi-vegetarian). She has a cooking show called Girls Gone Veg which she founded with fellow soccer player Toni Pressley. Riley became engaged to her fiancée Lucas Warrer Nilsson in March 2024. On January 8, 2025, Riley revealed on social media that her home had been destroyed in the

Palisades Fire The Palisades Fire was a highly destructive wildfire that began burning in the Santa Monica Mountains of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County on January 7, 2025, and grew to destroy large areas of Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, P ...

Career statistics

Club

International goals

: ''New Zealand score listed first, score column indicates score after each Riley goal.''

Honours

FC Gold Pride *

Women's Professional Soccer Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was the top-level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded six teams for the 2011 ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Western New York Flash *

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

FC Rosengård (formerly LdB FC Malmö) *

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Svenska Supercupen Svenska Supercupen, ''Swedish Super Cup'', was a one-off fixture in Swedish football played between the Allsvenskan champions and the winners of Svenska Cupen. The fixture was played in November, after the Allsvenskan season. In the event of a ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Svenska Cupen Svenska cupen (, ), also known as the Swedish Cup in English, is a knockout cup competition in Swedish football and the main Swedish football cup. ''Svenska cupen'' usually refers to the men's tournament, although a women's tournament is also ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

New Zealand *

OFC Women's Nations Cup The OFC Women's Nations Cup (previously known as the OFC Women's Championship) is a women's association football tournament for national teams that belong to the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC). It was held every three years from 1983 to 1989. ...

Individual *Nike Junior Women's Player of the Year 2006 *Nike National Women's Player of the Year 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 *Oceania Football Confederation Women's Player of the Year 2009, 2010 *

FIFPRO World XI The FIFPRO World 11 are the best association football men's and women's teams of the year. FIFPRO invites all professional men's and women's footballers to compose the teams. Initially known as the FIFPRO World 11, the award began in 2005 and c ...

short-list (55 players): 2016, 2017 * IFFHS OFC Woman Team of the Decade 2011–2020 *WPS Rookie of the Year: 2010 *WPS All Pro selection (First XI): 2010, 2011 *Damallsvenskan All Star Selection (First XI): 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 *All-Pac-10 freshman first team: 2006 * TopDrawerSoccer.com Team of the Season: 2009 *All-Pacific Region first team: 2009 *All-Pac-10 first team: 2009 *Pac-10 women's soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year: 2009 *Stanford University, Pat Strathairn Best Competitive Athlete Award: 2010 Orders *

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

References

External links

* *
Ali Riley
at

* * * *
archive
* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Riley, Ali 1987 births Living people New Zealand women's association footballers Olympic association footballers for New Zealand Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Stanford Cardinal women's soccer players FC Gold Pride players Pali Blues players Western New York Flash players 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup players USL W-League (1995–2015) players FC Rosengård players Damallsvenskan players Expatriate women's footballers in Sweden New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Sweden New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England Chelsea F.C. Women players Women's Super League players Expatriate women's footballers in England Soccer players from Los Angeles Women's association football midfielders Women's association football defenders New Zealand women's international footballers FIFA Women's Century Club Footballers at the 2016 Summer Olympics American people of New Zealand descent New Zealand people of American descent New Zealand sportspeople of Chinese descent American women's soccer players Harvard-Westlake School alumni 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup players FC Bayern Munich (women) players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Germany Frauen-Bundesliga players Orlando Pride players Angel City FC players Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics National Women's Soccer League players Women's Professional Soccer players New Zealand expatriate women's association footballers New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States Expatriate women's footballers in Germany 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup players Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit American sportswomen of Chinese descent Stanford University alumni 21st-century American sportswomen American expatriate women's soccer players in Germany 21st-century New Zealand sportswomen